Teenagers and alcohol

Teenagers and alcohol

Why do teenagers drink? And What’s the problem with it? Even if they don’t have the age to buy the alcohol, they get it any way, some how. Even if you are not allowed to drink before you are eighteen, the debut age in Sweden is fourteen years old.
In Sweden you must be twenty years old to buy alcohol in the store. We have a special store just for alcohol, it’s called ”Systembolaget”. You can buy beer and cider in a super market, but they are at most , only 3,5% alcohol per volume in it. When teenagers have became eighteen years old they can buy alcohol in Pub’s, but not every Pub, because some are just for those who are over twenty.

When and Where?
The alcohol debut are for many young people when they are fourteen years old. So when they have teenage discos they have fieldworker and police officers who take care of them who can’t take care of them self. Often they call home to the parents, so they come and get them.

How often and what?
We have made an questionnaire there young people answer a few questions. The resolute was that young people are usually drinking one time a month, but there some who drink often and some who never drinks. When they are out they drink beer, cider, liquor and there are a few who drinks some other kind of liquor, it’s called ”home-distilled”. ”Home-distilled” can be dangerous in some cases, but it’s inexpensive. ”Home-distilled” means that you have made the liquor your self, and it can be dangerous. You can lose your eyesight, you never know what’s in it.

A lot of drinking
In Örnsköldsvik there are discos for upper secondary school students. At these discos there are a lot of drinking, even if it’s not allowed. They are also drinking when they have home parties. When they drink they get the alcohol from older friend or a friend’s friend. They do it to have fun and get drunk and also fore it taste good.

The consequences are..
But it can also be a lot of consequences when you are drunk and don’t know what you are doing. Maybe you can be sexual abused, or take other drugs that you wouldn’t take if you were sober, and when alcohol is involved the violence increas substantial. You can also get a serious sickness like liver disease, and brain damage from the alcohol, this have a fieldworker who work with teenagers alcohol problems told us.
Despite all, the alcohol consumption have decreased among the teenagers in Sweden.